Major Reduction Announced in Iran’s Uranium Stockpile

The “red line” drawn against Iran’s civilian nuclear program by Israel was predicated on the assumption of Iran’s stockpile growing, and while Israeli officials have groused for awhile about a relative lack of growth, the latest announcement reveals a major decrease in the stockpiles size.

According to Iranian officials, their stockpile of highly enriched (20 percent) uranium, some 240 kg at its peak, has been cut nearly in half, down to just 140 kg, by a combination of increased use and decreased production.

Most of Iran’s enrichment program is at 3.5 percent, the level needed for its Bushehr power plant. The 20 percent uranium was an attempt to produce fuel rods for its aging, US-built Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), which provides medical isotopes to the entire nation.

That stockpile had been growing for quite awhile as Iran struggled to figure out how to make those fuel rods, but now that they have gotten the hang of it, the enrichment program seems to be slowly getting reworked back to 3.5 percent, since the fuel rods will likely be all the TRR can ever use in its lifetime.

Ironically, trading with Iran to get them to abandon the 20 percent enrichment as a confidence builder has often been discussed, but the reality is that with the fuel being used legally, the production is likely all but done anyhow.

4 thoughts on “Major Reduction Announced in Iran’s Uranium Stockpile”

Twenty percent enrichment being a temporary/one-time activity would explain a rush to sanctions specifically on that pretext; I'm a little ashamed I missed that, though I think it's pretty clear any pretext would do. Covered here a while back was how sanctions tend not to 'lift' as easily as they're 'slapped.' So, just as they rush everything else one's better judgement would tend to reject, … Hmm, 'the game' reminds me: http://www.heretical.com/potter/pre-game.html Might be helpful if you understand that you (Americans) are USrael's first opponent.

I suspect that Israel may in the near future have its OWN Nuclear problems with the World almost successfully making Syria give up its Chemical weapons which it used as its own MAD scenario against Israel's Nukes, there will be renewed interest in Israel and its non compliance with IAEA and NPT rules, regardless of it being a non signature of those treaties! Syria wasn't a signature of the Chemical Warfare treaty!

This is a good news for people of the world not thinking about Iran as yet another nuclear militarized system, question is what government of what is called "world power" that consist of few European and USG with nuclear war heads at their arsenal and militarism system as USA and NATO are going to do about Israel and their over 100 nuclear war heads. The reason for these "world powers" not willing to solve the problem in Middle East and Israel stealing habits of Palestinians homes and lands can be the fact that these governments are afraid of being attacked by Israel which if that is the case then Israel is their created monster wanting to dominate Middle East, so is the fact with Saudis and UAE. If thats not the case than what is called "world power" have no power but called "world power" scaring the world with their militarism regimes. Now, if that's democracy is up to people to decide, but one thing is for sure here, when there is people's will for a functioning democracy in all level in a social system it makes these militarism or whatever powerless as they are.